A simple scanning spectrometer based on a stretchable elastomeric reflective grating

We report a scanning optical spectrometer based on the use of a stretchable elastomeric reflective grating. The grating is obtained by supersonic cluster beam implantation of silver nanoparticles on polydimethylsiloxane previously grooved by molding to create a replica of a commercial digital versatile disk grating. The use of a stretchable grating allows the spectrometer spanning the whole optical wavelength range by solely extending the diffraction element by more than 100% of its original dimensions. The stretchable reflective optical grating shows excellent performances and stability upon thousands of stretching cycles. The use of this elastomeric element makes the optical layout and the mechanics of the spectrometer extremely simple and advantageous for those applications where spectral resolution is not a major requirement. As a proof of principle, we present the absorption spectrum of Rhodamine B in solution obtained by our spectrometer and compared to commercial instruments.